Writer Hopes To Create Dialogue About Islamic Pacifism

'For the Muslim community, I want young Muslim girls and boys around the world to know that you can proudly practice your faith while still maintaining the central ‘Golden Rule’ ethical teachings of our religion.'

Arsalan Iftikhar was in his second year of law school in St. Louis, Missouri, when September 11th happened. Not wanting the actions of extremists to define his religion, Islam, Iftikhar hopped on his laptop and began writing an editorial condemning the attacks.

That editorial would be published in newspapers around the United States. It would also launch him into a side career as a media commentator, speaking on issues pertaining to Islam or Muslim life.

Iftikhar would go on to found TheMuslimGuy.com as well as The Crescent Post, described as a “global news portal dedicated to bringing diverse voices about the ‘Muslim Street’ together in one place.”

Beautiful And Profound Book

He’s also recently published a book he hopes will catch fire.

Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era has been categorized as “a beautiful and profound book,” “a must read for Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” and giving voice to the “vast majority of Muslims.”

In the book Iftikhar makes the argument that pacifism is built into Islam and that his faith, and the faith of so many others, has been hijacked.

Iftikhar, who has worked with Muslims Voices in the past, took a few minutes out of his day to answer some questions about Islamic Pacifism.

Rosemary Pennington: First of all, why did you write this book?

Arsalan Iftikhar: I wrote my book Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era mainly as my small contribution to our current global marketplace of ideas. Because Islam and Muslims have been such important hot-button topics since September 11, I wanted to give a young media insider’s narrative historical perspective to many of the pressing geopolitical issues affecting our world today.

From the 9/11 attacks to the birth of Islamophobia, from the Danish cartoon controversy to the Park51 ‘ground zero mosque’ debate; since I have spoken about most of these issues within the global media, I wanted to write a narrative history of our post-9/11 world from the vantage point of a young Muslim public intellectual trying to advance our human conversation a little bit.

RP: What do you mean by “Islamic pacifism”? How is that different from other forms of pacifism?

AI: Just like Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi each formulated a nonviolent sociopolitical ethos based on their own religious traditions (Christianity and Hinduism, respectively), I also wanted people to know that this same nonviolent sociopolitical ethos of global pacifism can be found within the basic ‘Golden Rule’ teachings of Islam as well.

Since many Americans wrongfully equate Islam with extremism and violence, I wrote this book to put them ‘on notice’ that there are also hundreds of millions of Muslim pacifists around the world who proudly practice their faith whilst simultaneously subscribing to a platform of nonviolence as well.

RP: You write that no person in Islam’s history had so misused the religion as Osama bin Laden; why do you feel that way?

AI: Before September 11, 2001, most people would agree that the vast majority of Americans had little or no knowledge about Islam and Muslims.

For many people, the 9/11 attacks was their first ‘exposure’ to Muslims and that one terrorist act has directly led to the strong negative perceptions that most Americans have about Islam and Muslims. For that reason, there is no question in my mind that there has been no person in modern Islamic history who has tarnished the name of our religion more than Osama bin Laden himself.

RP: In writing about the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, you talk of a “sense of collective Muslim responsibility” — what do you mean by that?

AI: I believe that it is quite important for Muslim communities to help shape our own global meta-narrative moving forward in the ‘Post-Osama Era’.

Although the average Muslim on the street in Paris, Jakarta, Islamabad or Chicago bears no responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, I do believe that it is our collective Muslim responsibility to help educate the general public about the true teachings of Islam and also contribute to shaping our own meta-narrative in the global marketplace of ideas as we move onwards towards the next generation.

RP: You tie the “birth of modern Islamophobia” to Osama bin Laden — why? Aren’t there other causes, historical or socio-political, that also explain the modern phenomenon?

AI: As mentioned before, since most people knew little or nothing about Islam and Muslims before 9/11, I truly believe that Islamophobia came to complete fruition on September 11, 2001.

Indeed, there were many people who were anti-Muslim before that day, but the number of people who had animosity towards Islam and Muslims grew exponentially from that day onwards. For that reason, I will always tie the birth of modern Islamophobia to Osama bin Laden and his murderous cronies.

RP: What do you hope someone reading this book — Muslim or non-Muslim — gets from it?

AI: I hope that both Muslims and non-Muslims will read Islamic Pacifism for many reasons. For the Muslim community, I want young Muslim girls and boys around the world to know that you can proudly practice your faith while still maintaining the central ‘Golden Rule’ ethical teachings of our religion.

Similarly, when non-Muslims read this book, I hope that even if they still equate Islam or Muslims with extremism, they will ultimately have to concede that they know about at least one Muslim pacifist as well.

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Many Westerners, from conservative Evangelicals to anti-theist atheists, condemn Islam for passages in the Koran and the haditha (sp?) calling for Muslims to kill the infidels or that affirm the superiority of men over women.

I know from my own, former religion of Christianity that what was written in the Bible was not necessarily a reflection of how Christians lived out their lives or even what they believed. There are so many contradictory statements or examples of how to live in the Good Book that Christians can pick and choose at will.

My concern is that, from what I understand, most Muslims have much more reverance for the Koran than most Christians have for the Bible: that many more Muslims believe in the inerrancy of the Koran. What I don't know is how contradictory are the teachings of the Koran and the haditha, and how Muslim clerics and average Muslims interact with their doctrine.

For example, in Christianity, there are some conservative Evangelicals who are trying to reinstate multi-generational patriarchy in Texas. They believe in the inerrancy in the Bible, but have chosen to focus on Old Testament patriarchs as their example. The example of Jesus of Nazereth, a more likely role model (one would assume) for Christians, a model that emphasizes a nomadic, celibate lifestyle among female and male disciples, preaching to and serving the interests of the poor, the outcast, and the sick, is not even considered.

So, from my own experience, I would assume that although there are passages in the Koran and the haditha (sp?) calling for Muslims to kill the infidels (and, knowing that these passages exist IS definitely troubling), they are not the end of the story. There is not a one-to-one correspondence between doctrine and practice, especially if passages or actions in one part of a Holy Book contradict others.

That's not to say that doctrine is not important. It does matter. After all, there are other religions that emphasize the complete sanctity of life. Tibetan Buddhist monks light themselves on fire to protest Chinese oppression: it's difficult to imagine Christian or Muslim clerics sacrificing their lives in such a way as to preserve the lives of their oppressors.

Androidea

wait,hadiths shahih and Qur'an Never Contradict...i read your words and realize maybe you mention about the war verse,it exist,and i never find it troubling because it is,in fact, needed,(the content that verses is: if someone oppress you,you have to fight back,but stop if they stop oppressing you because Allah hates excessive acts).if you read a verse, you should read it at least in a whole verse or read the before or following verse...

See also Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who was a close associate of Ghandi. His non-violent ideas and life are discussed at length in Eknath Easwaran's Non-violent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, A Man to Match His Mountains (California: Nilgiri Press, 1999)